Normally a Funko thread would be out of bounds on SB but I think their new sofubi range is worthwhile bringing up here..

Looks like Funko are branching out beyond Pop! Vinyl in 2014.. In addition to the ReAction figures and free-standing plushies there's a new "Hikari" sofubi range. Batman and TMNT to start off with and Star Wars, Marvel characters and Ghostbusters planned for later in the year. The packaging apparently has an LED light built in that you can switch on and off.

Looks like they are genuine Japanese soft vinyl, I wonder which factory is actually producing these??

All of this stuff, plus more Pop! Vinyls set for release.. when I think of Funko I am imagining a huge Tetsuo blob trying to consume every licensing opportunity in their path.

Now please keep me entertained for at least 2 weeks with all of your replies to this...

Im sure I will be in the minority when I say that I like them. The clear vinyl looks cool and I love the franchise they picked. What annoys the hell out of me is the branding. Putting sofubi vinyl in the promo is such a wank move, just trying to cash in. It makes sense since all they want is more money, but it will start to bring more people into the fold. Meaning more flippers. More assholes that are trying to make a buck off our interests, just like Funko.

Other annoyance, making the "hand numbered" a big part of the push. Some jerk off writing 99 on a deco with /1000 already on it means nothing. And I am sure these will still have the shitty paint jobs that their regular line does.

^^^^
...right with you there man bout these new ones.

And thanks for the post Glenn! Damn interesting. I'd heard of Funko, and seen their stuff, and always found it... well... boring.

Seen some people custom them and they do make a good platform, i will say that.

...Interested to see what people do with these new guys.

Horses for courses but westernized sofubi shooting for mainstream acceptance never tends to end well and I doubt this will be any different (Kaiju For Grow Ups anyone . . . LOL!).

My main peeve/disbeief/surprise is the fact that no one has caught onto the fact that showing the goods and how much commitment to collecting the line has to be made in advance to this extent kills interest.

Back in the day I recall one release generally led on organically to the next and generated more interest. By the time later versions were dropping it was a clusterfuck scramble to make sure they were snagged at retail (shades of Secret Base Halloween releases)

Showing all the colourways before they are even made (even if they appeal, which these don't), personally makes me think 'That looks like some serious financial investment from the get go!' and steers me elsewhere for my vinyl jolly's!

It's kinda like buying someone's entire collection or product line en masse. Not really collecting, just accumulating!

Considering every new toy release as a base for a 'custom' or a platform toy immediately devalues it's integrity . . . D*nny Schmunny!

(IMO)

Andy pretty much hit it on the nose. Most people that collect Funko Pop stuff buys 1-2 of their favorite characters because they are relatively inexpensive. The idea of these things being 50-60 dollars for 1 is unrealistic and not a smart move. On top of that there are better figures for US characters, especially Batman, even if you wanted to compare it to other Sofubi, the Medicom DC Collectors figures are WAY better.
Collect what you want, and I hope everyone is successful, but I don't get the thought process on these figures.

Don't forget, Super7 collaborated with Funko on the Alien ReAction line. I have no interest in these or any other batman toy regardless of who bankrolls the project. That being said, one of my coworkers loves Funko and Batman so I am sure these are a slam dunk for him.

They should call this line "sofubi lite". They are made from sofubi, but not for the sofubi culture.

Although they may have been an equally bigger slam dunk with him being made in China at half the cost.

I may be wrong but I'd presume most Funko fans are buying into the fact it's Funko and the licenses . . . not the quality of the merch!

Also if it is true sofubi, what's up with the plastic cylinder packaging, where's the header card and bag, not feeling these at all.

putting all the BS aside, run sizes, labels, release methods, makers, posers.

I want one of the turtles, those paints are really nice. look at that V-color gold on the chest, and those metallic reds and purples.

Everyone keeps saying the sofubi industry is dying and it's just a matter of time til it's gone. If you want the factories to stay open, in my opinion this is the way. Pulling in big franchises and their fans. Yeah maybe the influx of clueless collectors sucks, but at least it allows Japanese toys to be made.

You all have summed it up well. The discovery aspect of sofubi collecting is major. It's supposed to be difficult. Dealing with some Skullbrain lifer dickhead just to get some info about the toy you want to collect is part of the fun. Hunting through old pics and pasting Japanese text into Google translate. If you first hear about the toy on Vinyl Pulse, it's just not the same.

the sculpts are better than their Pop Vinyl crap with those black dead eyes at least. I don't think the quality of the vinyl matters to the average Funko fan, seeing as the paint quality has always been up for debate.

You can always see how collectible something is by the number of times they say "hand numbered limited edition"

Edited

Everyone has pretty much covered it already. There is so much wrong with this. Fine, whatever, KR style works for a lot of folks - but these might as well have been made in China and priced at 10$. That is all I see when I look at these toys. I don't know what dummys and their ilk sell for, but I cannot see myself paying more than 5$ for one of these, and I would have to really like it. I cannot see these ever having come from a Japanese company. As if choosing licenses for a American audience isn't bad enough, the aesthetic is not there at all. Other companies have done it better (RxH) and there are far improved alternatives available (Medicom). All this is, is more crap for "toy collectors" to fill shelves in Urban Outfitters or wherever the hep kids get their stuff these days.

And the "limited number" ahahahahaahhaaa, oh man, when has this marketing ploy ever not been a complete joke? Stuff that is actually limited doesn't need to tell you that it is. As for the sofubi label, that has got to be the worst part of it. We are all in this hobby, and how many of us actually regularly use that term? I also take it as a slight towards people genuinely working to keep the industry alive. These aren't corporate windbags; it is small groups of people working hard and devoting themselves with passion to something they love, and typically for little profit. Individuals who have art and craft behind them. People who care about their product and the people they share it with. This Funko stuff has none of that.

I don't know if it is a joke, or some crumbbums really bad idea, but as long as it doesn't open the flood here, I don't really care. If some fans of this want to shell out 70$ for one of these, more power to them.

That too, but I think people buy them based on the license vs a real quality product

...for the TMNT stuff, my brain keeps going back to ANOTHER series of "limited edition" + "individually numbered" TMNTs from wayyyyy back in 1992.

I know what i'd prefer.



...AND even back then, the 'limited edition' aspect was a joke. I've seen some stamped as high as 50,000!

i want one of the tmnt. turtle power!

I just wanted to point out that "outsiders" aren't the only ones to use the term sofubi in a somewhat pretentious manner. When I first realized that people were still making these kinds of toys and started buying one or two, I grabbed up an Altar Beast for that very reason.

I thought, "It says it right on the package! Let me see how different it is from the toys I had when I was a kid." News Flash; it's the same stuff! Of course I now realize that the ones that I had back then were all most likely manufactured in Japan.

I own a really nice quality Chinese-made vinyl Gyo by Artstorm to compare. The Chinese stuff is kind of "grainy" in texture, but without being porous. Plus he smells very heavily of chemicals. It's funny how attention to craftsmanship makes a superior product, even if only slightly.

i'd be down for a ninja turtle if I could see and hold it before purchasing, and it costs $30 or less... quality control will be the deciding factor, as I already have the NECA figures (which are top of the line as far as TMNT goes, IMO)

They have squishy water shooter TMNTs at the dollar store. No Foe's.

Limited to 50,000 units LOL

Same here, but for Batman instead.

The question would be where would I keep him? On a shelf along with the other vinyls or with other odds and ends, such as my tiny Bearbricks display.

I'd like to see Funko start producing some original creator designed toys if they are going to go down this route.. Doesn't haveto be crazy kaiju or anything, just something that hasn't been done before. Where are the Bob's Burgers action figures? Maybe Jeremy Fish or Jeff Soto would be up for doing some toys now that Strangeco is long gone.

You can slap TMNT, Star Wars, Batman etc on anything and it will sell, it seems to be Funko's mission statement. The nostalgia trip will dry up at some point.. There's hardly anything original these days that people will be able to reboot/rehash/rely on for easy sales in a decade from now, just look at the sad sorry state Transformers is in after being re-envisioned and regurgitated up for the twentieth time.. Speaking of which they are bringing out Pop! Vinyls based on the Michael Bay Transformers designs. Why waste time producing them?? Anybody with any love for TF would steer clear from those horrible designs, but they will make money so Funko jumped on it. If that's not selling out then I don't know what is... And if they are going to start tarnishing the "sofubi" term with this sort of stuff then that's pretty annoying.

Seems like "sofubi" is going to be thrown around and mis-used the way "emo" was thrown around a few years ago with Spider-Man 3, My Chemical Romance etc.

....TRU KVLT SFBI:



...TRU KVLT EMO:

? "Sofubi" already is thrown around. In the last three maybe four years I'd say that it's almost become a highly successful marketing tool whereas everyone nowadays has their own toy. The terminology used to be "oh this is a blank blank toy and it is made out of soft vinyl/sofubi. Big deal. Now it's... this is "sofubi" so it's got to be good AND it's limited etc.

On SB, people join all the time, but a large majority have some blog to pimp or some toy that will be made into sofubi!

Paul Kaiju/Rich/Ricky/Joeman etc. used to get a ton of shit for painting toys and customs and really worked through a ton of criticism and created a huge fanbase. It irks me that those guys worked so hard and now it's a free for all. I don't paint or create anything artistically but I appreciate what those guys do and what they have done for this message board and community.

Lots of things in the near future will be "sofubi"..that's a given. In fact, it could all turn to sofubi. The fact that companies like Funko are jumping on it doesn't surprise me. However, it doesn't want to make me collect it.
Lastly,for the average person who collects ninja turtles...I could see them give a shit. They either like the product or don't.